MDX Essentials: MDX Members: Introducing Members and Member

February 24, 2003

About the Series ...

This is the fourth article of the series, MDX Essentials. The primary focus of this series is an introduction to the MDX language. The series is designed to provide hands-on application of the fundamentals of the Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) language, with each tutorial progressively adding features designed to meet specific real-world needs.

In the third article of the series, MDX Operators: The Basics, we explored some of the most basic components involved in the construction and manipulation of tuples and sets. The operators we explored in Lesson Three included curled braces "{}", commas "," and colons ":". We discussed the role each operator plays in MDX expressions and queries, explored the rules of syntax involved in putting each into action, and then provided hands-on exposure to the use of each in simple expressions. We executed the practice expressions to view their respective outputs, commenting on the significance of the results, as a means of a providing a basis for more complex query building as we progress through the series.

In this lesson, MDX Members: Introducing Members and Member Functions, we will introduce the concept of members, and discuss their pervasive significance within MDX. We will then launch the first discreet group of articles in the series, Member Functions. As part of this first foray into the Member Functions collection, we will begin our exploration of the powerful .Members operator. Within our exposure of this robust and highly useful operator, we will discuss the syntax within which we can best employ the function, illustrating some of its uses within MDX expressions through the use of practice exercises.